For several years there has been available on the market an educational apparatus in the form of a console which enables the user, usually teachers and students, to project a magnified image on a screen. The console is in the form of a box usually mounted on a table or laboratory bench, the box including a specimen holder wherein a specimen, usually mounted on a glass slide, is positioned. A light source is positioned to direct light through the specimen and through a lens system, and mirrors for projecting the magnified image on the rear surface of a ground glass display screen. The user observes the magnified image from the front of the screen and the console is arranged to support the screen in a manner to make viewing convenient. The lens system usually includes means of adjusting the focusing as well as a means of varying magnification.
Devices of this type are commonly employed in science classes and schools for teaching students. While the devices are useful in many different applications, the most common usage is in teaching biology to display in portions of insects, amoeba and so forth.
The present invention is directed towards an improvement in the console having a black-lighted screen for displaying a magnified image by providing a magnifying glass positionable in front of the screen, that is, between the screen and the user, allowing the user to achieve additional magnification of a portion of the image projected on the screen. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for displaying a magnified image.
More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide an improvement in a console having a rear lighted projection screen for displaying a magnified image thereon, the improvement being in the form of a magnifying glass supported in front of the screen and adjustable by the user to vary the focus of the magnifying glass relative to the screen and also to vary the position of the magnifying glass so that various portions of the image displayed by the screen can be magnified.
These, as well as other and more specific objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.